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The “do you have to wait 8 months to get covid booster” is a question that has been asked by many people. The answer is no, but it doesn’t hurt to wait.
For elderly Americans and those with specific immunological weaknesses, the Food and Drug Administration has approved extra doses. Here’s what scientists know about who need the dosages and when they must be administered.
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Kenny Holston of The New York Times contributed to this article.
The date is March 29, 2022. 29th of March, 2022
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a second booster dosage of Covid vaccination for all individuals 50 and older, with the goal of protecting those who are most susceptible to the coronavirus. The decision comes as the highly infectious Omicron subvariant BA.2 wreaks havoc throughout Europe and threatens to do the same in the US.
However, the scientific evidence for the fourth dosage is at best inconclusive, and experts disagree on whether the injections are necessary. Here are some things to think about while making your choice.
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Pfizer petitioned the Food and Drug Administration two weeks ago to approve a second booster injection of its vaccine — a fourth dosage — for adults 65 and older. Moderna followed suit two days later, but with a larger proposal to permit a second booster for all individuals over the age of 18.
Even before these demands, the CEOs of these corporations went on TV programs asking for more boosters for everyone — but without any proof to back up their assertions.
The Food and Drug Administration was unconvinced. Adults aged 50 and over may have a second booster injection of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, which must be administered at least four months after the initial booster shot of any authorized or approved Covid vaccine, according to the CDC.
The second booster means a fourth shot for those who already got three doses of an mRNA vaccine. A second booster would be the third shot for those who received one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and a booster shot of an mRNA vaccine.
In addition, the C.D.C. now says that all adults 18 and older who received two doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may also opt for a booster dose of an mRNA vaccine. The agency said it was basing its recommendation in part on a new study showing that two doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine offered less protection against Covid-related urgent care and ER visits than an mRNA booster.
Will the announcements make a difference in the country’s sluggish vaccination rates, particularly while cases are still on the decline? Even while the virus was destroying the nation, less than half of people in the United States elected to receive a booster injection, according to Dr. Saad Omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health.
Dr. Omer said, “Our first booster coverage is very, very, very low relative to where we wanted to be.”
Instead than doubling back on a failed strategy, he says, government authorities should take advantage of the pandemic’s pause to investigate the best vaccine options.
“Any professional public health expert going back and looking at the current coverage of the first booster would say,” he continued, “we need to have a serious appraisal of what we need to do better.”
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At a retirement facility in Etanya, Israel, I received my fourth dosage. Credit… Reuters/Ammar Awad
Many scientists are skeptical about the choice made today.
The Food and Drug Administration has granted permission for anybody over the age of 50 to obtain a second booster. Experts cautioned, however, that current data only supports a fourth injection for patients over 65 or who have underlying diseases that put them at high risk.
The most strong evidence comes from an Israeli research, which found that persons over 60 who received a fourth dosage were 78 percent less likely to die of Covid than those who who received three doses. The report was published online last week but has yet to be peer-reviewed for publishing in a peer-reviewed journal.
“In terms of death rate, the Israeli research is crucial,” said Dr. Robert Wachter, head of the University of California, San Francisco’s Department of Medicine.
However, although that research provides the sole data, it is riddled with flaws. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and an advisor to the Food and Drug Administration, said the participants all volunteered for a fourth injection and are likely to be individuals who are inherently health-conscious.
“Who decides whether or not to obtain a fourth dose?” “A person who is concerned about their health is more likely to exercise, is less likely to smoke, and is more likely to wear a mask,” said Dr. Offit.
These additional circumstances may make the booster injection seem to be more effective than it is. Other Israeli research suggests that a second booster has relatively little advantages in healthy young individuals.
A fourth dosage, given four months after the third, restored antibody levels to the same peak achieved after the first booster, but no higher. And, as with the third dosage, this increase is likely to be brief.
Marion Pepper, an immunologist at the University of Washington, said, “I believe the timing is going to be critical here.” “You have to question the utility a little bit if it’s not going to promote a long-term, higher-quality immune response.”
Hundreds of studies have already shown that the majority of individuals are already adequately protected against serious disease. According to a recent C.D.C. research, even when presented with Omicron, a variation that may sneak past immune systems and infect humans, two or three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines were adequate to avoid serious illness in virtually everyone.
According to the research, the majority of vaccinated patients who were really sick or died were older or had health issues that hampered their immune response.
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According to the minimal information available, only persons who are immunocompromised or older than 65 are likely to be affected.
“If it’s been more than five or six months since your last booster and you’re at high to very high risk,” Dr. Wachter says, “the obvious decision is to get the injection.”
“As a healthy 64-year-old guy who had his third injection seven months ago, if I can, I’ll get one this week,” he continued.
Other specialists were wary about Americans rushing to receive a second booster shot.
“Vaccines are something I really believe in. “I appreciate the notion of having alternatives for doctors and immunocompromised and high-risk patients,” said John Wherry, head of the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Immunology.
“It’s hard for me to suggest making a choice on an intervention like this in the full lack of facts,” he said of a blanket recommendation.
Nonetheless, Dr. Wachter said he would suggest the booster to anybody who meets the requirements. The virus may be chugging along at a low level right now, but it is still present. He cautioned that Americans who do not obtain booster shots risk infecting themselves or anyone around them.
Covid has been linked to heart and brain damage in recent research. Despite the fact that vaccination reduces the chance of long-term damage, studies “are all pointing in the same direction that says you don’t want to get this illness if you can prevent it, even if you’re 100 percent sure you won’t die,” according to Dr. Wachter.
Boosters may be required every few months if the objective is to maintain infection prevention. Several experts say this is an unreasonable and unworkable strategy.
Dr. Offit said, “That is not a public health policy, and it is not a sensible one.” “It also implies that boosting has no effect.”
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Nobody knows — for the time being. However, it is not unrealistic to believe that it will assist in some way, at least in the near run.
The Biden administration suggested booster vaccinations for most Americans last autumn, in order to prevent the virus from spreading. However, an Israeli investigation of young persons indicated that the fourth dosage did not provide a robust barrier against Omicron infection.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 30% effective in preventing infections with the variation, but the Moderna vaccine was just 11% effective.
Reduced infections, however, should imply a decreased chance of a boosted individual passing the virus on.
“You may receive improved protection against infection to some degree for a short period of time — you know, one to three months,” Dr. Wherry added. “Of course, this will diminish transmission.”
A vaccination clinic in Hagerstown, Md., last month.Kenny Holston of The New York Times contributed to this article.
Booster dosages provide just a few months of protection against illness, so a booster injection today will not provide much protection in August or even July.
After the injection, the immune system takes roughly a week to recover. Antibodies gradually decrease after that peak during the following two to three months. If you qualify for a booster, you may want to get it just before your trip — or before the next surge — to ensure you have the most protection.
“Where we are in this epidemic is the only thing that counts,” Dr. Pepper stated. “I’d be keeping an eye on what the variations are up to.”
Getting a booster late last year, when the Omicron variety was widespread, made sense merely to avoid infections.
Dr. Wherry, 50, said he chose a third dosage despite not being concerned about being ill since becoming infected would have been “very inconvenient” for his career and his two high school children.
“I don’t see any necessity for a fourth dosage right now as a healthy 50-year-old,” he stated. If the case numbers rise again, he may reconsider his decision.
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Maybe. Vaccines are quite safe, therefore having a second dose is not harmful. However, there may be drawbacks.
Each dosage, for example, may cause side symptoms such as fever, headache, exhaustion, and joint pains — “which, as you grow older, aren’t always minor,” according to Dr. Offit.
Boosting repeatedly yields declining returns. According to Dr. Pepper’s research, a fourth encounter to the virus — whether by infection or vaccination — will not improve immunity any further than the third.
There is also concern that boosting with the initial form of the vaccination too many times would make the body less receptive to subsequent doses. “You’re not getting the most bang for your buck when you’re boosting with the same strain versus other strains,” Dr. Omer said.
There’s also some indication that spreading vaccination doses out farther, maybe once a year, results in a stronger, longer-lasting immune response. If that’s the case, boosters should be used less often.
In interviews, all of the experts agreed that it won’t happen for a time.
“An infection might be thought of as a booster,” Dr. Wachter said. “Those who have had an infection in the previous three months are likely to be as protected as if they had had a second booster.”
Even the initial booster dose did not provide much of a benefit in patients who had been sick and later vaccinated, according to Dr. Pepper’s research.
“With three exposures to the spike protein, whether via infection plus vaccination or simply vaccine alone,” Dr. Pepper said, “you kind of plateau at some type of immunity ceiling.”
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